Tag Archives: kite

Big air kiteleague – Cape Town 2021-2022

Big Air Kite League

Cedric Vandenschrik Headshot for Big Air Kite league

In October 2021, I started chatting with Michael Macdonald owner of Big Air Kite League (BAKL) about the event he wanted to organise in Cape Town  for the beginning of December. 

I had been following BAKL the whole of 2021 with interest. The concept of a contest concentrating on the big air discipline and the creation of a new platform for new up and coming riders to take part in was something, in my opinion, that had been missing in the fractured world of Kiteboarding.  With not much time to spare, I decided to jump in there and give Michael a hand to get this contest ready for the 6th of December.

The virus strikes

Once again the little virus, or rather the uninformed media panic that seems to follow it, struck and the contest had to be delayed. We had no choice. Flights were banned, and much uncertainty lay ahead with half of the permit requests process already done and the possibility of South Africa to be shutting down over the festive season. 

Resilience

But we kept our hopes up. Where there is hope there is life! After a few weeks, we decided to continue the permit application process with a window period running from the 17th of December to the 30th of January. 

Until now the forecast has not played along and as plagued us with much uncertainty, but we remain confident that the event will run before the end of the month. 

The venue is Dolphin beach and the contest will be run by some of the best people in the business with the best up and coming riders in the world.

Cedric Vandenschrik: Contest organiser
Olaf van Tol: Race director
Su Kay: Beach marshall
Dave Kay: Flags

 

So watch the BAKL website and social media network carefully over the next few days as the green light is coming soon!! 

Picture of Olaf van Tol, Dave Kay, Cedric Vandenschrik, Su Kay at dolphin beach cape Town with table mountain in the background
Picture of Olaf van Tol, Dave Kay, Cedric Vandenschrik, Su Kay

Sardinia Island in autumn

Cedric Vandenschrik Kiteboarding Sardinia during a Storm in November 2020

Thanks to Covid, my plans for the year got turned upside down, Well to be truthful, you can no longer plan anything really.
As a result I ended up spending Autumn in Sardinia.
In normal times, I am there over the summer so this was a new experience. I was looking forward to checking out the island out of season.
With limited spare cash and equipment as my travel companions, I had to make do with quite a few limitations.
Firstly I didn’t travel with a board and ended up having to beg and borrow to go kiting. I also didn’t have a guitar, which if you know me is a big deal!

Anyway, turns out I have a great girlfriend who organised a roof over my head and a car to drive, and friends who lent me boards and pumps (Veronica, Max, Emerico).

Video

I made a little video of my kiteboarding experience in Sardinia in Autumn with a little home Jam at home. If you want more, read on.

September

Well firstly I can’t count the whole of September as a kiteboarding month. I was confined at home for the first 2 weeks.

Secondly September is more summer than autumn with warm sunny days and very warm water temperature.
Once I got out, I found the beach to still be pretty busy. The San Teodoro area, where I was based, seemed to not suffer from the travel advice and restrictions that had been laid across Europe. Some shop had really busy seasons.
Beach goers and Kitesurfers were also present in full force. I know that time of the year well having been the race director at an event which used to run on the last week end of September. I remember the beach crowds and light wind conditions too well.

The only days that yielded stronger conditions were Mistral winds .
Being on the East Coast meant that I had to trek across to find better conditions for the North West wind. I ended up in Mari Ermi for what was probably the strongest wind I had the whole time I was in Sardinia this year. My smallest kite was a 9m Wave and I was lit! Sadly the wind was super gusty so it was hard to throw proper powered loops which is one of my favourite activity when kiting in those type of conditions.

October

The month of October brought about more wind and less beach goers. Kiters were still plentiful, but with more space to work with on the beaches, it was more enjoyable.

I frequented Posada beach a fair amount and also finally got to go out at La Cinta during a memorable 4 days of Scirocco wind (SE).
La Cinta looks great but in my opinion is not the best place to go out wind wise. However the kiters flock, especially foreigners, and also the curious beach goers.
As usual, with the crowds come problems.
Sadly a board I was borrowing just vanished while I was sorting out a kite issue on the beach. After much searching, I had to come to the conclusion that someone just took it. I would like to hope that it wasn’t another kiter, but whoever it was may the Karma police find you.
On the first day, great photographer Manu Borsato came to the beach and got a few cool pics.

Discovering new spots

Off season is great in Sardinia. Less tourists, and more spots! Some spots would be out of bounds in the middle of summer as they would be covered with cancer seeking sunbathers and locked up in regulation and policing. Once the crowds vanish, no one seems to care. Here are a few pics from spots that will remain nameless for now.

November storms

November brought colder temperatures but also stronger winds from the North, North East. On the East Coast it means some wave activity too. Sure it ain’t the ocean, but it was enough to have some fun. I got to explore some other spots and finally found empty beaches and open water. Almost felt like home.

Aesthetically Sardinia is beautiful and has much variety to offer. Kiteboarding condition wise it’s way better out of season. Sardinia in Autumn has stronger winds to offer with the Southerlies being the steadier. However, I am a difficult customer to please coming from Kiteboarding Paradise...

More kiting in Rome

After my trip to Sardegna (see other post) I spent some time in Rome to carry on testing the new tube kite from Peter Lynn.

I was hoping for some sessions, and got fairly lucky with about 2 to 3 outings a week.

Thanks to Tania Romagnoli I got a whole lot of pictures from those sessions.

I’ve also written a full report on the tube kites prototypes I had with me which is here.

It was nice to catch up with some old friends on the beaches of Rome (Mostly Fregene)

Of course i mostly rode the 11m, but it turned out to be great fun.

I am now back in South Africa where the winds at my home spot, Cannon Rocks, are starting to blow… Time to hit the waves, with a longer wetsuit though, and jam some tunes…

Here a few pics from around rome: